#house of alpin

[roehenstart]

Legendary kings of Scotland by James de Witt.

69: Kennethus II (Kenneth MacAlpin)

Kenneth MacAlpin (810-858) or Kenneth I was King of Dál Riada (841–850), King of the Picts (843–858), and the first King of Alba (843–858) of likely Gaelic origin. He inherited the throne of Dál Riada from his father Alpín mac Echdach, founder of the Alpínid dynasty. Kenneth I conquered the kingdom of the Picts in 843–850 and began a campaign to seize all of Scotland and assimilate the Picts, for which he was posthumously nicknamed An Ferbasach ("The Conqueror"). Kenneth I is traditionally considered the founder of Scotland, which was then known as Alba, although like his immediate successors, he bore the title of King of the Picts. One chronicle calls Kenneth the first Scottish lawgiver but there is no information about the laws he passed.

[scotianostra]

November 25th 1034 saw the death of Malcolm II at Glamis.

There's a lot to take in here, and a lot of supposition, it gets like that when you're delving into the history almost a thousand years ago.

Malcolm had been King since 1005, at this time Scotland was far from the nation we know it to be today, according to the Irish annals which recorded his death, Malcolm was ard rí Alban, High King of Scotland, this was a title given to what was probably the most powerful of the rulers, his fellow kings included the king of Strathclyde,  who ruled much of the south-west,  various Norse-Gael kings of the western coasts and the Hebrides and, nearest and most dangerous rivals, the Kings or Mormaers of Moray.

To the south, in the kingdom of England, the Earls of Bernicia and Northumbria, whose predecessors as kings of Northumbria had once ruled most of southern Scotland, still controlled large parts of the south-east.

Malcolm, or Máel Coluim mac Cináeda, to give him his ancient name, was ruthless, he sought to make sure to secure his family’s right of succession to throne, to do this he set about eliminating any possible claimants to the throne. There are scant details of the exact circumstances, but notable casualties included the grandson of Kenneth III, in 997, the killer of Constantine III  is credited as being Cináed mac Maíl Coluim, “Kenneth son of Malcolm”.  Now the historians debate whether this was “oor” Malcolm here, but don’t fully discount it.

John of Fordun a chronicler who we rely on a lot, writes that Malcolm defeated a Norwegian army  in almost the first days after his coronation, but this is not reported elsewhere. Fordun says that the Bishopric of Mortlach (later moved to Aberdeen) was founded in thanks for this victory over the Norwegians, but this claim appears to have no foundation, so although Fordun is a very respected base for historians to delve into, I think we can probably put this down to a more modern phenomenon-Fake News!

The first reliable report of Malcolm’s reign is of an invasion of Bernicia, which is now south-eastern Scotland and North East England. It resulted in a heavy defeat, by the Northumbrians led by Uchtred the Bold, later Earl of Bernicia, which was reported by the Annals of Ulster.  A second war in Bernicia, probably in 1018, was more successful. The Battle of Carham, by the River Tweed, was a victory for the Scots led by Malcolm and the men of Strathclyde led by their king, Eógan II, so the neighbouring Kings were not afraid of getting together for some English bashing, this was a time England was having to deal with heavy interference from the Norsemen.

Meanwhile during The Battle of Carham, in modern day Strathclyde down to the Tweed, King Eógan the Bald was killed, this is generally thought to have been when Malcolm, know by the southern tribes as Forranach’ meaning the destroyer took Strathclyde under his wing as part of the Kingdom of a growing “Scotland” but it was not fully part of the nation until Malcolm III, ( Canmore )

The good work he had done for his sons may have been for nothing, there is no evidence either survived after the year 1030, so the crown would pass to his grandchild.  Truth be told the evidence he actually had sons is quite flimsy.  He was a canny man though, and had married his daughters off wisely,  to the Norse Earl Sigurd of Orkney., thus staking a claim for his forebears to the northern regions.

Strathclyde was to come back and haunt him though, Malcolm tried to place his grandson Duncan (later Duncan I of Alba) on the throne of Strathclyde. This displeased the Britons who had taken their eye off the ball while dealing with those pesky Vikings, but they it led to Malcolm’s assassination at Glamis on this day in 1034.

As per usual there are differing stories about how he died, on say fighting off bandits, another  he was killed by the sons of Máel Brigte of Moray, a notable Pictish leader

He was buried in the graveyard at Saint Oran’s Chapel on the Isle of Iona. Of his Dynasty, and his daughters he had placed in powerful families, the one wed to Earl Sigurd of Orkney, and their son Earl Thorfinn went on to bring much of Caithness and Sutherland into Scotland. One married Crínán, the Abbot of Dunkeld, and their son Duncan went on to succeed Malcolm II as Duncan I. And the third married Findlàech, the sub-king of Moray, and their son Macbeth went on to kill Duncan and become King Macbeth.

It’s all a bit complicated trying to piece things together through so many different sources but I hope the post makes some some sort of sense. A stone at Glamis is said to mark where he died, but another source tells me it is his gravestone contradicting the source that said he is buried on Iona! Such is the plight of trying to put a post like this together…….

[wisteriagoesvroom]

oscar piastri is the funniest man in the world i fear

[x]

[backroad-life]

Credit: Domino

[arc-hus]

Alpine Village House, Stara Fužina, Slovenia - Skupaj Arhitekti

[ef-1]

otmar (team principal) fired, pat fry (technical director) gone, permane (sporting director) fired, rossi (ceo) fired, cyril (team principal) fired, marcin budkowski (executive director) fired. geninune question: who is left, like who is issuing out all these firings from the french skeleton of alpine? the hand of GOD????

[llovelymoonn]

favourite poems of july

knar gavin strindberg grey

dahlia ravikovitch the love of an orange (tr. chana bloch)

danez smith summer, somewhere

hannah gamble your invitation to a modest breakfast: “your invitation to a modest breakfast”

claire schwartz lecture on the history of the house

joseph brodsky collected poems in english, 1972-1999: “a part of speech”

ralph angel twice removed: “alpine wedding”

bob hicok insomnia diary: “spirit ditty of no fax-line dial tone”

caleb klaces language is her caravan

philip good & bernadette mayer alternating lunes

hester knibbe light-years (tr. jacquelyn pope)

tracy k. smith life on mars: “the universe as primal scream”

rigoberto gonzález other fugitives and other strangers: “the strangers who find me in the woods”

stephen edgar murray dreaming

james schuyler other flowers: uncollected poems: “light night”

amy beeder because our waiters are hopeless romantics

diane seuss backyard song

tomás q. morín love train

safiya sinclair the art of unselfing

carol muske-dukes skylight: “the invention of cuisine”

peter gizzi the outernationale: “vincent, homesick for the land of pictures”

william matthews selected poems and translations, 1969-1991: “onions”

c.k. williams butcher

mark mccloskey the smell of the woods

jennifer chang the age of unreason

richard blanco city of a hundred fires: “contemplations at the virgin de la caridad cafeteria, inc.”

bob hicock the pregnancy of words

j. allyn rosser impromptu 

carl phillips then the war

stephanie young ursula or university: “essay”

gloria e. anzaldúa the new speakers

kofi

[4mulaone]

mclaren mewling pawing whining desperately into landos ear for twenty laps like pleaseee babe the undercut was a joke omfg only to be ghosted so hard they changed the tactic to ok im going to kill myself now ASIDE the real comedy has to be max verstappen approaching such a state of rage at perceived slights against him he ties his own neck in a noose and we witness the first instance of a world champion being discriminated against for being a gamer in live commentary

[jillraggett]

Plant of the Day

Friday 8 March 2024

In early spring Adonis amurensis graces the cool glasshouse. This spring ephemeral is an herbaceous perennial from mountainous grassland meadows and forest edges in alpine and subalpine zones in China, Japan, Korea, and eastern Siberia. The plant requires moist, rich soils and a lightly shaded location.

Jill Raggett

[eightiesfan]

Insert [Here] part 2

[life-spire]

@ pj_visual

See more travel.

[unicornvibration]

SOLD! Here is a "made to order" one for sell. And I also accept custom orders!

Miniature journal made with recycled leather and recycled paper. Drawing made with walnut ink!

Available in my new Etsy shop, 50% of the profit will be donated to a local wildlife shelter!

[maxpadelchampion]

are the alpines… fast???

[starfruit-grafitti]

liechtenstein is a trans icon no doubt but I think y’all are forgeting that her brother is also a trans icon himself

[arc-hus]

House Schneller Bader, Tamins, Switzerland - Bearth & Deplazes

[ineffable-gallimaufry]

The Golden Ghosts

Chapter Eleven: the good intentions and the pain lay drowned

Victor Aesculapius is missing. The dead that he raised, still out on the prowl. Hunter, Zara, and Alexandria are going to have to race to find him before the camping trip wraps up. or: it's the last time you'll ever have to be in these woods again i swear this is the last of the camping miniarc or whatever i called it